G. had school so I did all the morning chores, then got myself all cleaned up and drove (all by myself!) down to Olympia to visit my grandma at my aunt’s house. It was a good visit all around, though the trip was a bit stressful. I’ve only had a license [...]]]> Oh, a tired day.

G. had school so I did all the morning chores, then got myself all cleaned up and drove (all by myself!) down to Olympia to visit my grandma at my aunt’s house. It was a good visit all around, though the trip was a bit stressful. I’ve only had a license since March 2011, so these long solo trips are still sort of novel.

After hanging out for a while, I drove (all by myself!) up to Seattle to meet up with G. and friend C. and a bunch of other friends too, for C’s birthday. I had snacked all day in the car, including a Theo chocolate bar, a thing of Beecher’s cheese curds tossed in various herbs — which was extremely delicious — and some Late July cracker sandwiches. When I got to the bar where we were meeting, I had a little dish of pretty awesome mac & cheese.

That was tonight! I usually work from home on Wednesdays, but I went in today, so G was on dinner duty. [...]]]> In my freezer sweep the other day, I grabbed a baggie of frozen slow-roasted tomatoes and a little jar of pesto, and hucked them in the fridge to thaw for an easy weeknight meal.

That was tonight! I usually work from home on Wednesdays, but I went in today, so G was on dinner duty. He puréed the tomatoes and garlic into a chunky sauce, then simmered it for a while with a pint of home-canned island-grown tomatoes, a bit of dehydrated Laughing Crow onion, and a Persephone Farm bay leaf, and tossed it with storebought dried pasta.

First they were little.

(taken on their first day with us, in mid-August)

Then they got a bit bigger. Here they are in mid-October, drinking water out of the bucket they fit into in August.

This was on Sunday. That bucket they’re snuffling in is the same one in the [...]]]> This was the pigs’ last day.

First they were little.

(taken on their first day with us, in mid-August)

Then they got a bit bigger. Here they are in mid-October, drinking water out of the bucket they fit into in August.

This was on Sunday. That bucket they’re snuffling in is the same one in the picture above. On the day they came home, one entire piglet (plus the front or back half of another one) fit in that same bucket.

We got a discarded 5-gallon bucket of peanut butter from the local nut roastery and we (unintentionally) saved it for the pigs’ last few days. They went NUTS (no pun intended) for it. “Peanut butter!! OMG!! All over my nose!! Let’s get more!!! YEAH I LOVE PEANUT BUTTER”

Anyway, today was their last day. The very nice man, Charles Whitcombe from T-Bone Express, came out with his nice clean slaughter truck. He was prepared, professional, careful, respectful, clean, and a very good shot. We were sad and nervous about it ahead of time, because, you know, we raised these lil guys — but he was good and we felt that he was considerate of them critters as well as our/my need to be witness.

We stayed with him (them) and helped out a bit as we could. This mostly consisted of holding plastic bags open while he dropped livers, kidneys, caul fat, and leaf lard into them. I managed not to cry in front of him.

For dinner I made deviled pork kidneys, after Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall‘s recipe in The River Cottage Meat Book. He calls for lamb kidneys; I used pork obviously. He also calls for red currant jelly and a small glass of sherry. I used a spicy tomato-peach jam I made in September, puréed a bit so it would be more like the consistency of his currant jelly, and instead of sherry I used a combination of vermouth, sherry vinegar, apple cider vinegar, and island-grown verjus from Perennial Vintners. For the mustard in the recipe I used some that I made quite a while ago (it keeps forever) from storebought mustard seeds; the cayenne was homegrown, and for cream I skimmed some off the top of a jar of homegrown goat milk.

HFW suggests that pork kidneys should only be used when “you are very sure of their provenance and scrupulous freshness.” I figured the only way to do it better would be if we had had them for lunch instead of dinner.

I used too much liquid and ended up overcooking them while I tried to reduce it. I liked it, though the overcooked texture was a little unpleasant. G. gave it a shot, but couldn’t handle it and had leftover beef barley soup.

I had known that the Washington State Senate had the 25 votes it needed to squeak [...]]]> I was in the kitchen preparing dinner and listening to the news on KUOW, our local NPR affiliate. G. went out to get firewood and when he came back in I was sobbing in the middle of the kitchen.

I had known that the Washington State Senate had the 25 votes it needed to squeak by with the majority, but this radio article at like 5:30pm announced that a 26th Senator had thought, and prayed, and despite the fact that it would make many of his friends hate him, he had decided that he must support SB 6239, the marriage equality bill. He did not have to — it would have passed without him — but he DID, and I started to cry. He didn’t have to but he did. He didn’t have to but he did, because it is the right thing.

It went to the vote tonight and I followed along via friend Genevieve’s Facebook — she was at the Capitol, watching — until suddenly Facebook exploded at just after 8pm, because the Washington State Senate passed SB 6239 with a 7-vote margin, at 28-21 — even better than the 26-vote clear win that set me to sobbing in the kitchen.

It goes to the House next, and the House is expected to pass it with no problem, and then to the Governor, who has said that she will sign it.

There will almost certainly be a voter initiative to repeal it, but I am hopeful that sense and love will prevail. Someone had some numbers on why it is OK to think that that is so, but I’m busy wiping my eyes and can’t find them now.

Ground beef from Kitsap cows; Laughing Crow onions; homegrown/LC garlic; homegrown carrots; Leapfrog Farm celery; pint of Tonnemaker (Eastern Washington) tomatoes; Leapfrog Farm green beans; Persephone bay leaves; homemade homegrown chicken stock; Bob’s Red Mill pearl barley (not organic, but employee-owned, and awesome!).